President Donald Trump this week revived his effort to remove Federal Reserve official Lisa Cook from its Board of Governors, despite the Supreme Court ruling in June that he couldn’t do that.

The White House sent a letter to Cook this week informing her the president is “considering” removing her from the Reserve because he believes, without evidence, she committed mortgage fraud. The letter, signed by Dan Scavino, White House deputy chief of staff, gave Cook a 21-day deadline to respond.

ABC News was the first to report on the letter.

The letter cites an August 2025 criminal referral filed to the Justice Department by Federal Housing Director and Trump loyalist Bill Pulte, alleging Cook deceitfully claimed an out-of-state home as her primary residence. Cook, who has never been charged with nor convicted of a crime, previously said in court documents that the mistake was likely a clerical error.

Shortly after Pulte’s referral, Trump announced he was firing Cook, setting off a series of court battles that eventually reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in a 5-4 decision that he did not have the authority to do so, because Cook is owed due process to fight the accusations.

Cook’s lawyers Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen dismissed outright the accusations of mortgage fraud in a statement to HuffPost on Friday.

“These allegations are as baseless now as they were a year ago when President Trump tried to remove Governor Cook and interfere with the independence of the Federal Reserve,” the statement read.

“No matter what President Trump tries to do next, this much is clear under the facts and Supreme Court precedent — there is no valid cause for removing Governor Cook,” it continued.

The Federal Reserve declined to comment.

Trump in his second term has boldly attempted to influence the Reserve, sparring with Cook and former board Chair Jerome Powell for asserting the central bank’s independence as the president repeatedly and loudly implored it to lower interest rates.

After months of attacking Powell, pressuring him to exit the board before his term ended, Trump appointed Kevin M. Warsh as the new chair, while Powell remains on the board as a governor.

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